It's pretty common knowledge that ISPs never offer you the kinds of upload and download speeds they advertise in the real world. So when you're gaming or downloading and want to know whether that lag is packet loss, what do you do? This enterprising DIYer hacked together his own network monitor that sits on his desk and feeds him data on the health of his connection.

Zak Kemble, the maker behind the monitor, wanted a way to keep tabs on his connection without logging in to his router to check, so he built this monitor. It uses a simple shell script and a low-cost microprocessor and Bluetooth module to communicate with the router, displays the information on the tiny LCD display, and is powered over USB. You can see it in action in the video above (turn annotations on, he includes descriptive notes as annotations to the video.)

Under the hood, the monitor uses ATmega328P microcontroller (available for under $5 at SparkFun Electronics) at its heart to manage a 1.8" color LCD display, a Bluetooth module, and uses V-USB for USB support. It's definitely no beginner project, but if you're up to the challenge (and we've shown you how you can be), it looks really useful and a lot of fun. Zak has even provided all of the code and associated files so you can build your own, just hit the link below.